By The Keystone Newspaper The organization experiences continuous growth after 30 years on KU’s campus.
By Gabby Arnone
The Best Buddies chapter at KU hosted their Buddy Reveal on Monday, Oct. 7. Members were able to find out which buddy they were matched with for the school year during the event.
Photo Credit: Leah Hundley
Best Buddies International mission states that the group is, “a nonprofit organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, employment, leadership development, inclusive living, and family support for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”
Including KU, 500 other colleges have Best Buddies chapters on campus. KU’s chapter includes 80 students and buddies, which keeps growing every year.
This year was the first Buddy Reveal themed party hosted by the chapter’s executive board. The president and vice president, Leah Hundley and Gwen Verbist respectively, went to a training session and discovered other chapters were making the Buddy Reveal a huge party and wanted to embrace the festivities as well. They thought it was a great way to get buddies and members involved by playing games, winning prizes, and getting to know each other.
Excitement filled the lecture room in the Academic Forum. “Everyone was excited to meet their families and get to know one another. We had lots of new college buddies so our buddies were thrilled to get a new family or new member added to their family,” said Alli Crilly, Buddy coordinator for the chapter.
With this growth within KU’s chapter, more buddies are able to join and get involved with students at KU.
“Best Buddies has been on campus for about 30 years. I believe KU Best Buddies blew up so much because we promoted it a lot last year, and are very active on our social media. I believe Best Buddies will grow more and more,” Verbist said.
The E-Board also planned a Halloween party on Monday, Oct. 21. Future events will include a pajama party as well as a gingerbread building event for the holiday season. Verbist said she was looking forward to seeing the new families grow closer and the events that they plan on holding. The Best Buddies chapter is always welcoming new members. If students have interest in joining, they can email Gwen Verbist at gverb575@live.kutztown.edu with any questions or for more information about the chapter.